[Sca-cooks] oranges

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

> Sweet (I believe); Western Europe.   I would like to make a pomander, yet
> many people tell me that all that is is cloved fruit (basically).

No. Pomanders were much more than cloved fruit, and in fact cloved fruit
pomanders were a late period development.

To quote myself from the Florilegium:

Cloved fruit pomanders appear to have been a late development of the
pomander. Early pomanders were made with a combination of gums, resins,
and (often) dirt or clay. These pomanders were kept in cases, often of
metal, with pierced sides to hold them. The cases were carried, worn on
chains or ribbons about the neck, attached to walking sticks, and worn on
the belt. Later in period, pomander cases (which could include
compartments for a number of different scents) also came to include
compartments for sponges soaked in aromatic vinegar.

Scented beads (rose, violet, etc.) made from flower petals were also made.

I don't have my resources right to hand, but the best discussion of this
that I know of is Rosetta Clarkson's, in _Magic Gardens_.

There's a recipe for a period pomander given in Jeanne Rose's _Herbs &
Things: Jeanne Rose's Herbal_

And my web page has two pomander recipes on it:

http://www.lehigh.edu/~jahb/herbs/scents.html#Pomanders

-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
jenne at fiedlerfamily.net OR jenne at tulgey.browser.net OR jahb at lehigh.edu
"Are you finished? If you're finished, you'll have to put down the spoon."